The Price of Perspicacity
by Phosphorescent
Summary: They said that he followed the Ministry blindly; that he was an ambitious, bootlicking fool.


_Disclaimer:__ I own Harry Potter. Wait... no, I don't._

_A/N: This was written before the release of _Deathly Hallows_, as an attempt to get inside Percy's head. Because while Percy had always been a bit of a pompous git in the series, it frustrated me that most people automatically branded him as a bad guy. Percy had always struck me as the sort who'd have a very strict moral code (regardless of how ambitious he was). And my personal__ disagreement with Percy's actions didn't mean that he might not have had some legitimate (at least in his mind) reasons for siding with the Ministry. So this fic was my attempt to explore Percy's reasoning, to see the world through his eyes._

* * *

They said that he followed the Ministry blindly, that he was a fool.

It irritated him. He might not be a Ravenclaw, but he was no idiot, either. He knew what he was doing, and he knew that what he was doing was right.

And who were they to talk, anyway? Dumbledore's people were following blindly, too. They probably never even stopped to consider his methods or to decide whether this was what they wanted. No, they followed because they had always followed, and because he was a war hero.

Oh, Dumbledore had been a great wizard, Percy didn't deny that, but that didn't necessarily make him the best person to follow.

Rules.

That was another thing that annoyed him. Not the rules themselves, of course, but people's attitudes towards them. Rules were not, contrary to certain people's beliefs, put in place to personally irritate or hinder them.

He sniffed.

No, rules were put in place to _help_, to protect. And even if those rules didn't seem to have a purpose, that didn't mean that they didn't have one nonetheless. They gave a semblance of order, of control, and without that semblance the general population would riot. Particularly nowadays, with the Death Eater attacks. People would panic if they thought the government couldn't handle things. And that would only make it easier for the Death Eaters to win.

Why couldn't they see that? And maybe Harry Potter _wasn't_ a raving lunatic like he'd previously thought, but the boy was still dangerous, and obviously not very bright. Didn't he understand that by helping to boost morale, he'd be helping everyone? And didn't he understand that if the Ministry were to admit to making mistakes, it would lead to general disorder, giving You-Know-Who and his followers an edge?

The boy was too simplistic. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for what was right. That didn't make the sacrifices right, of course, but the consequences of not making those sacrifices was far worse. Given the choice between one (possibly innocent) man's imprisonment and a hundred (mainly innocent) people's deaths, Percy knew which he'd choose.

The accusations that he was acting like a Slytherin made him want to laugh; whether that laughter would be bitter or hysterical, he couldn't quite decide. After all, had he been acting Slytherin, he never would have gotten into this mess. If he'd been acting Slytherin, he never would have stated his true beliefs, never made a clean break with his family. Why couldn't they respect his right to have a different opinion? Why couldn't they respect _him_?

Dumbledore's lot thought the term 'presenting a united front' was just a self-serving bureaucratic platitude. Percy knew that it was a necessity if they wanted to win this war. Well-intentioned though Dumbledore's Order might be, they didn't seem very practical.

And his family?

Sweet Merlin, he loved them, but they were blind.

It had hurt when they turned on him. After all, they _knew_ him. He was a bit more reserved than the rest of them, perhaps, but he'd never given them reason to doubt his integrity.

And he wanted to scream and punch something when they acted condescending, like they knew better.

"We'll always be here for you, Percy. When you see the truth, you'll be welcome back among us."

_Right._

He could take it from his parents – after all, they were his _parents_, and all parents seemed to think that they knew better than their children. It was, he supposed grudgingly, their prerogative.

But to get that from his siblings – particularly the younger ones – was more than he could bear.

And maybe what he'd said his argument with his father was cruel, but it was true too. His father had been selfish. He might not be brilliant, but Percy knew that he could have managed a promotion if he'd really wanted one. But he hadn't. He'd been happy playing with his Muggle gadgets and not having to do any _real_ work. And his family had suffered for it. And then his association with Dumbledore! Now that was just _asking_ for trouble with the current political climate. Percy wouldn't have minded the association so much if it had been the right thing to do, but it wasn't – it was just easy.

Besides, his father had said some pretty hurtful things, as well.

Insinuating that the only reason Fudge had promoted him was to spy on his family. His obvious belief that all of Percy's hard work had counted for nothing, that the promotion couldn't possibly be based on his own merit, had stung.

And if, at nights, he sometimes lay awake and wondered whether there was any truth behind the accusation, well, that was his own business, thank you very much.

And he hated his father for putting the idea into his head.

But he knew, he _knew_ that he was in the right. And in the end, surely, that counted for something.

Didn't it?

Sometimes, when he missed home and all that it had entailed (innocence, a belief that his parents could make everything better, a belief in unconditional love, a belief in absolute rights and wrongs), he wondered.

Was being right worth being alone?


End file.
